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Book ^2_4X 



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CHILDREN OF 
THE ARCTIC 




Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/childrenofarctic01pear 




MARIE JHNIGHITO PEART 



CHILDREN OF 
THE ARCTIC 

By the snow BABT 
JND HER MOTHER 








N E IF YORK' FREDERICK A. 
STOKES COMPANY • PUBLISHERS 



iOLAr,3 a, lOffi- tlo, 



"1 6 >r.^ 

/ .- n r- V 



6 ■S'.^J 



Copyright, igoj 
by Frederick A. Stokes Company 

AH rights reserved 
Published in October, igoj 







The University Press, John Wilson & Son 
Cambridge, U. S. A. 



c c « ' *" 




Little Eskimo Sweethearts 



CHILDREN of the ARCTIC 



I 



If any one had invited 
AH-NI-GHI'-TO to go 
back to the Snowland the 
day after her return to her 
Grossmamma's house, she 
would not have listened a 
moment ^ for there was so 
much to tell, and do, and 
see, and learn that in her 
opinion she could not pos- 
sibly spare time for another 
visit to the far-away land. 
Yet, the next summer, when her father went 
off again in the great black ship, to the land 
where all AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S queer fur-clad 
friends lived, there was a big lump in her throat, 
and something that looked very much like tears 
in her eyes, when she found that she and mother 
were going to remain at home this time. 

9 




~i' - r "SmiiiiiFFiiirmriiiiir-r' 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

But she was nearly five years old now, and 
father said she must soon go to school and 
learn a great deal by the time he returned^ 
and if she would be a very good girl, and do 
just what mother said, he would tell Santa Claus 
to bring her a sister. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO was much pleased. She 
wanted a playmate very much and promised to 
do all she was told ; and father sailed away. 

All through that summer AH-NI-GHI'-TO 
roamed about on a farm, where everything was 
new to her. She had bunnies to pet ^ chickens 
to feed ^ nests to hunt ; cows to be driven to 
pasture in the morning and brought back in the 
evening ^ butter to be churned ; flowers to be 
gathered and arranged ; and really so many 
things to be done of which she had never 
even heard, that the days were hardly long 
enough. 

The summer came to an end quickly and 
AH-NI-GHI'-TO returned to her "Grossy's" 
home and to her kindergarten, of which she 
was very fond. 

lO 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

Then Christmas came bringing many pretty 
toys for her, and soon afterward, coming home 
from the kindergarten one day, AH-NI-GHI-TO 
found the dearest little sister waiting for her. 
At first she thought father had brought her, 
and was quite disappointed to learn that she 
had been sent, but as sister brought a letter 
from "dear old Dad" in which he told AH- 
NI-GHI-TO that she must be very good so 
that she might set sister a good example, she 
began at once to take the part of elder sister. 

All through the winter and spring and well 
into the summer AH-NI-GHI-TO was a happy 
little girl. Each day sister grew to be more 
of a playmate, and the two little girls had 
merry times together ; sometimes on the bed, 
sometimes on the floor, and often on the white, 
warm sand of the seashore. But one morning 
sister was not well and did not care to frolic 
with AH-NI-GHI-TO. She would lie still and 
only smile a little sometimes, too sick to enjoy 
the fun. The next evening she went to sleep 
and even AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S kisses could not 

II 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




The Black Ship ivhich sailed for the Snoivland" 



awaken her. Poor AH-NI-GHI'-TO, this was 
her first grief and she was nearly heart-broken. 
It was a long time befiore she could believe it 
was better for sister to be an angel in heaven 
where she would have no pain and where AH- 
NI-GHI'-TO would rejoin her some day and 
they would never be separated again. 

It seemed that AH-NI-GHI-TO'S happy 
days were over for a while, for soon after this 
the big black ship which had sailed for the 
Snowland early in the summer to bring AH- 
NI-GHI-TO'S father news of her and his home- 
land, returned with the sad tidings that he had 
been caught by the cruel Jack Frost far up in 

12 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



the Snow country during the cold, dark winter 
and had his feet frozen. Though his letters 
told AH-NI-GHI'-TO and her mother that he 
was quite well now, still they had their doubts, 
and AH-NI-GHI'-TO said, ''Oh, mother, can't 
we go to father? I think he must need us to 
take care of him." Her mother agreed that 
when the ship went north again the next June, 
she and AH-NI-GHI'-TO would go too. AH- 
NI-GHI'-TO could not see why they must wait 
so long. Why not go at 
once ? She had quite 
forgotten that in the far 
north the long, cold 
night was now begin- 
ning and that all the 
sea was frozen solid. 
For four months father 
would have no sun- 
light: only the faint 
light of the stars and 
once a month the moon. 
Only when the sum- " ah-ni-ghp- to was six rears ou mw ■ 

13 




CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

mer came again with its bright warm sun to 
thaw the ice and allow the ship to plough 
her way through, could she go to him. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO was six years old now and 
was going to real school, but all her spare time 
she spent in getting ready for her coming visit 
to father in the Snowland. 

She made many picture scrap-books, and pa- 
per dolls (with dozens of dresses for them) to 
give to the little Danish children who had been 
so kind to her when father's ship stopped at 
their villages on the way home with the great 
Star stone. All her pennies were carefully saved 
that she might buy other presents for her many 
little friends. So the winter and spring passed, 
and at last came the day, July 7, when AH- 
NI-GHI'-TO bade Grossy and Tante goodbye, 
promising to surely return in the early Fall and 
perhaps bring father too. 



14 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



H 



On the way to join the ship she stopped to 
say goodbye to Uncle in New York and to 
dear old Grandma in Portland, Maine. Here 
too she promised to return in the Fall and if 
possible to bring father with her. 

Her one wish now was to board the ship 
and get away, and this she really did on July 
20 at Sydney, Cape Breton. That night before 
going to sleep she wrote in her diary. 

'-'■ July 20, 1900. 
— Glory, glory, at 
last mother and I 
are on our way to 
see father. I wonder 
how long it will take 
us. I can hardly wait. 

"We have such 
tiny rooms here that 
one of us must stay in 
bed while the other 
dresses. Everything 
is very clean and 
comfortable and I 




"• At last IVe 



Our IVay to see Father " 



15 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




" A little Kitty with ivhich to play " 

have a little kittv with which to play, and 1 think I 
will like our maid too. 

" She is the wife of the steward. She has never been 
away irom her home in Newfoundland before, except to go 
on the fishing boats to Labrador. Thev spend the summer 
there catching codfish, and live on it through the winter." 

During the first week the weather was clear 
but quite^cold. At least AH-NI-GHI'-TO and 
her mother thought it was, to what they had had 
before leaving home. 

The old ship, called the " Windward " was 
very slow, and so they were thankful when a 

i6 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




" IF hen a Breeze xvould fill the Sails " 



breeze would fill the sails 
and help the engines push 
the ship ahead. 

From Sydney they sailed 
through the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, along the New- 
foundland shore as far as 
the Straits of Belle Isle. 
Then through the straits, 
where the last lighthouse 
was passed, and along the 
Labrador coast. On July 29th letters for home 
were given a passing fisherman, who promised 
to mail them at the nearest place in Labrador 
where the mail boat would touch. This was 
AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S last chance to send news 
home to her dear ones until she returned her- 
self the next autumn, and in one of her letters 
she wrote the following : 

" S. S. Windward," Ju/j 29, 1900. 

My dear Uncle, — Nearly every day has been fine. 
In the Straits of Belle Isle we passed many large 
cakes of ice. I am glad we had sunshine, because Cap- 

17 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



tain Bartlett, whom I like very much, says there are rocks 
there too. If our ship should strike either of these it would 
wreck her ; and we might easily run against them if the 
fog was thick and he could not see ahead. 

My kitty is very wild 
and will not come to 
me, though I teed her 
milk and bread and try 
my best to make friends 
with her. The Captain 
is very jolly, and helps 
me have fun. He has 
had a nice swing put 
up for me on deck, and 
when our ship does not 
roll too much I have 
fine times there. 

Percy, the maid, says 
she never saw children 
play, that where she 
comes from they only 
sit with their hands in their laps and keep quiet. I am 
glad I don't live in that place. I am teaching her to 
play with my paper dolls and to play tea-party, but as 
she feels seasick most of the time we do not get along 
very fast. 

Mother and I with Percy are at one end of the ship, 
while the Captain and his men are at the other end. 

i8 




" Chm'lie the Steivard " 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




'<■ Percy the Maid" 



We live in what is called the " after 
cabin" and the Captain and his offi- 
cers live in the forward saloon, but 
the sailors are in the forecastle; so, 
you see, there is the whole length of 
the ship between us. I can make as 
much noise at my play as I choose, 
without any one being able to hear 
me. Percy serves our meals in our 
cabin, and it is just as if mother and 
I lived alone on the ship. 

The Captain comes down some- 
times and plays checkers with me, 
which is very nice ot him ; and I 
am going to call him Captain Sam, because father has 
had two other cap- 
tains by the name 
of Bartlett. 

To-day it is rain- 
ing and quite cold, 
and the poor fisher- 
men look as if they 
would rather be in- 
doors ; but they say 
it is a good day for 
fish and they must 
try to get as many 
as they can. Mother 




" Captain Sam " 



19 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

bought enough hsh for dinner and breakfast; and now 
I must close, tor Captain Sam is waiting for our 
mail. 

With much love and a bushel ot kisses, from 

Your AH-NI-GHr-TO. 

P. S. We don't have anv real nio-ht at all now. It is 
daylight almost all nio;ht long. 

As soon as the fisherman dropped into his 
boat with the mail the "Windward" went on 
her way, but the iogsv weather and north winds 
kept her back a few days along the Labrador 
shore. Dayis Strait was crossed in a wind storm 
which kept up for days, and one day while 
AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S mother was reading to her 
in the cabin there came a gust of wind wilder 
than any before. It was followed by a great 
crash on deck, a shower of broken glass from 
the cabin skylight and the shouting of the Cap- 
tain to his men and the running of the sailors 
obeying his orders. AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S mother 
was frightened, but hardly had the glass stopped 
falling \vhen AH-NT-GHI'-TO cried, "Go on 
with the story, mother." She had been in so 

20 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 





1 


^ 


\ 


1 


1 




H 


^ — 


■rwA^iipM 


Jj89 


BH 








































^HH 


WKK^i^a 


3^- 




J^H 
















■M^^^^ 
^^^^2 




m 




^ 



" J Great Iceberg " 



many storms at sea that she was not the least 
afraid, and took everything that happened on 
board ship as a matter of course. 

Captain Sam said afterwards that the ship had 
been tossed on the waves hke a ball, and in the 
storm and fog had come so near a great iceberg 
that when the man on the lookout saw it she 
had to be brought round the shortest and quick- 
est way, to keep her from being dashed to 
pieces against its frozen sides. 

21 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

This caused the bags of coal lashed on deck, 
to break loose and slide across the deck, smash- 
ing; everythmo; in their way. 

Four hours later the ship was in a smooth sea 
with the sun shining brightly. 

The bunch of bananas that were taken for 
father were now getting so ripe that they must 
be eaten, and it was AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S de- 
light to take an armful on deck and divide 
them among the sailors. Some of them had 
never eaten them before. 




22 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



III 



A few days later 
the first stop in 
Greenland was 
made at Godhavn, 
the capital of the 
country. Just out- 
side the harbour the 
pilot, an Eskimo 
in his tiny skin canoe or kayak, met the ship and 
was hoisted on board, canoe and all. Here Cap- 
tain Sam expected to get some seal-skin clothing 





" The Pilot in His Skin Canoe " 



^3 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

which had been ordered for AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S 
father. 

The sun now shone throughout the twenty- 
four hours, so there was no night at all. 

When AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S mother told her 
Godhavn is the capital of Danish Greenland, 




Godhavn, the Capital of Danish Greenland " 



AH-NI-GHI'-TO said, "Just as Washington is 
the capital of the United States } Oh, mother, 
how funny it is to look over there and see 
only a few frame houses one and a half stories 
high, a tiny frame church with a school-bell 
on top, and then only mounds of turf with a 

^4 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

window stuck in the end of each and a chimney 
put on one side, — and to think this is a capital 
city ! " 

But it is true. The Inspector of Danish 
Greenland, the Governor of Godhavn, and an 
assistant with their families are the only white 
people in the " city." 

"The mounds of turf" as AH-NI-GHI'-TO 
calls them, are the native huts. They are only 
one story high and built of stone and turf half 
in and half above the ground. The turf with 
which the stones are chinked is allowed to grow 




" Huts like Mounds of Grass on which the Dogs sleep " 

^5 



-""^ 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

until the stones can hardly be seen for grass. 
Some of the dogs belonging to the household are 
nearly always asleep on top of the huts, and this 
makes the huts look still more like mounds of 
grass. The Danish Governor requires the chil- 
dren of these natives to go to school and to 
church. The schoolmaster is also the preacher, 
and he is usually a native Greenlander who was 
taught in this same school when he was a boy. 

AH-NI-GHI-TO was disappointed because 
it was two o'clock in the morning when the 
anchor went down and every one on shore was 
asleep. 

The Captain said we had no time to spare, 
and he would 20 ashore at once without wait- 
ing for rising-time, and see if the Governor would 
receive him. While he was gone a few of the 
natives, who had been roused by the tooting 
of the ^'Windward's" whistle, came on board 
to find out whose ship it was and whether there 
was any chance for them to trade their toy 
kayaks (boats) and sledges for coffee, sugar, 
and biscuit. 

26 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 





" Broberg " 

Among them was an old native, named Bro- 
berg, who had seen AH-NI-GHI'-TO when 
she was a baby, and again when she was four 
years old. He first knew her father in 1886, 
and asked about him in his broken English. 
AH-NI-GHI'-TO was much amused, and later 
wrote in her diary : 

^^ August 10. — Came to Godhavn at two o'clock this 
morning. Could not go ashore. Saw some old Eskimos 
I had seen before. One old man was very funny. His 
name is Broberg. He came toward us and shook hands 

2-7 



CHILDREN OF THE x^RCTIC 

with mother and me and said, 'Me verv glad see 
YOU. You plenty big now. All vou look plenty well. 
Me hope you hnd Peary all same well. Me go my 
house catch you kamiks. You pickaninny feet keep 
plenty warm in good kamiks. No cold, you wait, 
me see.' 

"Mother teases me by saying that he said, 'You plenty 
bad now,' and not 'plenty big,' but I know he did not 
because he does n't know me well enough. " 

\\"hile old Brobero- had gone to see if he 
could "catch" a pair of warm kamiks (fur- 
lined boots) for x-\H-XI-GHr-TO, she saw a 
few of her old friends, who as soon as they 
heard it was Pearv's ship, and that AH-XI- 
GHI-TO was on board, showed their delio-fit 
bv bringing her the best thev had, and they 
wanted her to come ashore and visit their 
pickaninnies. 

One man brought his family close to where 
the ship lay, that x\H-NI-GHr-TO might see 
what line children he had. The little girl, a 
child of three years, had on short, white 
leather kamiks (boots) with long seal-skin stock- 
ings coming to the thigh, but the tops of the 

28 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




" Eskimo Family at Godhavn " 



Stockings above the boots were covered with 
snow-white, lace-trimmed pantalettes made of 
muslin. Her little seal-skin trousers had bands of 
white leather embroidered in red, down the front 
of each leg, and her top garment made like a 
sweater, was of red and white figured calico, 
trimmed about the neck and wrists with black 

29 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

fur and lined with the soft, warm breasts of the 
eider duck. The baby was dressed very much 
like the babies at home, only the feet and legs 
were put into a fur bag covered with bright 
calico. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO pleased them by taking 
their pictures as they stood there hand in 
hand. 

Nearly all the natives of Danish Greenland 
wear clothing made of woven material, for which 
they trade their furs and blubber with the Danish 
people who govern them and teach them. 

In a short while Captain Sam returned. 
With him came the Inspector and the Gov- 
ernor. AH-NI-GHI'-TO heard that the Dan- 
ish children whom she met here on her last 
visit were now living somewhere else, and of the 
two Danish families in Godhavn now only one 
had children. To these she sent fruit and sweets 
and said she hoped to see them on her return, for 
now the Captain was in a hurry to be off while 
the good weather lasted, and there was no time 
for visiting. 

30 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

Old Broberg returned, but had not been able 
to "catch" a pair of kamiks to fit AH-NI- 
GHI'-TO. He felt sorry about it and wished 
the Captain to wait until his daughters could 
make a pair, as he said "they plenty quick 
sew." But of course this was not to be thought 
of 




Ivory Necklace, carved from JValrus Tusks and Narwhal Horns " 

31 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

Just as the "Windward" was ready to leave 
and had blown her "good-bye" whistle a mes- 
senger from the Governor's wife climbed over 
the ship's side and handed AH-NI-GHI'-TO a 
beautiful ivory necklace as a keepsake. 




n -J 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



IV 




" In Melville Bay " 



For days after this, 
when it was clear, AH- 
NI-GHI'-TO could see 
no watery nothing but 
what looked like snow. 
It seemed to her as if 
the "Windward" would 
certainly be stopped by 
some of the heavy sheets 
of snow-covered ice. But 
the bright sun had been 
shining on it day and night for months, and it 
was not nearly so strong as it looked to be. 
When the ship struck it a sharp blow it shivered 
to pieces and the old "Windward" shoved them 
aside and pushed on. The sunlight on these 
great fields of snow-covered ice was so blinding 
that AH-NI-GHI'-TO was obliged to wear the 
darkest smoked-glass goggles all the time. 

Even if the progress was slow AH-NI- 
GHI'-TO knew that every night when she 

' 33 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



lay down to sleep she was one day nearer her 
father's camp, where she hoped to meet "dear 
old Dad," whom she had not seen for over two 

, .._,^^,,,„_,„.__.^ ^,^^ years. 

The ever dreaded Melville 

Bay, full of icebergs and large 

sheets of ice, was crossed at last. 

Captain Sam expected the north 

water to be free from the large 

pans of ice. He did not fear 

the great white icebergs, for the 

sun shone during the twenty-four 

hours without setting, and he 

could keep out of their way. 

Sometimes he would run the old 

ship right alongside of one of 

these "palaces of the Ice King" and fill the 

water tanks with pure cold water which formed 

in pools where the ice had been melted by the 

hot rays of the sun. 

Sometimes AH-NI-GHI'-TO saw these large 
masses of ice turn "somersaults," as she called 
it. This was caused by the water washing against 




" To wear smoked-slass 
Goggles all the Time " 



M 



J 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

the sides of the berg until the part in the water 
was lighter than that above the water, and 
the berg became top-heavy and tumbled over. 
At first there was a low rumbling noise, then as 
it gained headway it grew to a roar, like the 
increasing sound of an approaching train. This 
was followed by the boiling and foaming of 
the water (filled with pieces of ice which had 
broken off) as far as the eye could see, until at 
the shore the waves dashed high. 

The poor old "ice palace" would roll over 
and over and rock and sway and totter until at last 
it regained its balance. But now the part which 
before had been under water was above it and 
glistened like polished silver, with lots of little 
rainbow colours in between, where the sun glinted 
from drops of sea water. 

Here it would stay until some other time when 
it again became top-heavy by the washing of 
the waves, and the same thing would happen 
to it. Each time it would become smaller, until 
at last it was only a lump of ice floating idly 
about on the water. Such pieces are liked by 

35 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




" Iceberg, ' Palace of the Ice King'' " 

the seals and walrus to crawl upon out of the 
cold water into the warm sunshine, and there 
take their sun-bath. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO thought it must be a very 
cold bed, but these animals all have such a thick 

36 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

blanket of fat wrapped entirely around them, just 
under the skin, that it does not seem cold to them. 

One morning about four o'clock AH-NI- 
GHI'-TO'S mother came on deck to look 
around, when just alongside, on quite a large 
cake of ice she saw a beautiful snow-white bear. 
He had been swimming about in the hope of 
finding a seal or two for his breakfast, and com- 
ing to this cake of ice, thought he would get 
up on it, stretch his legs, and get a nice drink 
of water. 

The man on the '^lookout" had been looking 
at ice and water in the glaring sunshine for so 
long that he had failed to notice the bear who 
was just the colour of the ice on which it stood, 
and so it was that AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S mother 
was the first one to see it, and call the Captain. 

Captain Sam never undressed when he went 
to bed while the ship was in motion, and so it 
was only a few moments before he appeared 
with his rifle. The poor bear did not seem to 
know that he was in danger for he stood quite 
still, with his head up sniffing the air, and watch- 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

ing the ship slowly nearing him. The Captain 
fired, and the bear jumped into the water and 
began to swim away. The Captain fired again, 
and though the poor brute did not stop, the 
water about him turned red and we knew he 
had been hit. Another shot and his head 
drooped and his body floated on the water. 
He was dead. A boat was lowered and the ani- 
mal hoisted on board, where he was hung in the 
rigging to dry before being skinned and cut up. 




■■ Skinning the Bear " 



38 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO was very much excited. 
Her heart bled for the bear, and she hoped 
all the while the shooting was going on that he 
would get away. Her mother told her it was 
necessary to kill these animals for her father, who 
needed the meat to feed his dogs and his Eskimos, 
and the skin to make into clothing to help keep 
him warm during the long, cold winter. But 
AH-NI-GHI'-TO still grieved for the bear. 




.9 



J 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




V 

A few days later Etah, 
the place where her father 
had built his winter house, 
was sighted, and AH-NI- 
GHI'-TO thought that in 
a few hours she would be 
in his arms; but she was 
to be disappointed, for be- 
fore the ship reached the 
inlet AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S 
mother saw that the dear old stars and stripes 
were not flying from the little red house, and 
told her this was a sure sign that father was not 
there. 

As soon as the ship's anchor was down a boat 
full of Eskimos came off from the shore and they 
said that Peary had not yet returned, but he had 
sent letters which were in his house on shore. 
Captain Sam jumped into the boat and in a short 
time brought letters from AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S 
father, in which he told the Captain what he 

40 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

wanted done at Etah and that he wished the ship 
to come on to Fort Conger where he would 
meet it. 

Now Etah is on the east shore of Smith Sound 
and Fort Conger, the place where AH-NI-GHI'- 
TO'S father hoped to meet his vessel, is on the 




" A Boat full of Eskimos " 

west side and nearly three hundred miles farther 
north. The ice here was very thick and only 
small lakes of water were to be seen through it, 
in the direction in which the ship must go. 

41 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

Both Captain Sam and AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S 
mother felt that there was Httle chance of CTettina 
to Fort Conger in their small ship. Before leav- 
ing Etah the Captain must get hundreds of tins 
of canned goods, barrels of flour, cases of sugar, 
rice, biscuit, oatmeal, etc., etc., on board to take 
with them. These had all been piled near the 
beach bv AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S father, ready to be 
put on the ship as soon as she came. 

This took more than twentv-four hours and 
durincr this time AH-NI-GHI'-TO was ashore as 
much as possible meetmo- some of her old Eskimo 
friends and getting acquainted with others. That 



fc» 



-q 



nio-ht she wrote in her diarv: 

'-'■ Aicgust 20, 1 9 00. — Ashore all dav. Took a look at 
father's house. It is verv empty and \'erv small. I also 
looked into the tents of the Eskimos. Thev are dirty 
places. Am so sorrv not to hnd more children here. 
Only a boy nine or ten years old and a baby. They are 
going on the ship with us, so I guess I \yill haye a good 
time. The 'gro\yn-ups' thought it \yas \'ery tunny to see 
me jump rope \yith the ' Bosun,' and also to see me s\ying. 
They helped me pick llowers, which I haye just finished 
pressing, and they took me to the glacier which mother 

4^ 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

says is a river of ice that flows down the mountain-side 
toward the sea just as if it were water, only it moves very 
slowly; not more than a few feet in a year. They tried 
to tell me about my father, but I did not understand them 
very well. I gave one of the women a white cup and 
she was very proud to have it. Early in the morning we 




" Fathet-'s House is 



very s/na, 



iir 



hope to get away from here and take with us five grown 
Eskimos and two children. I wonder will we meet 
father soon." 

Poor little AH-NI-GHI'-TO thought that in 
a few hours at most the ship would cross Smith 
Sound and reach her first landing-place on the 

43 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

opposite shore, Cape Sabine, only thirty miles 
away, where a depot of supplies and coal would 
be landed for the use of those on board the 




" Coasted doivfi the Slopes of the Ice Hummocks" 

''Windward" in case she should be crushed in 
the ice, while trying to get north, and her people 

44 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

forced to return to the shore in boats. But it 
took eight long days to reach this place, and dur- 
ing all of this time there was hardly a moment 
when the ship was not in danger. 

Sometimes the great sheets of ice would hold 
the "Windward" in their grasp and not allow 
her to move an inch. Then the current would 
take her, together with the ice, and drift the whole 
southward. In this way the ship was often farther 
south at the end of the day than she was when 
she started to steam north a few hours before. 
At these times when the "Windward" was drift- 
ing she was perfectly motionless and AH-NI- 
GHI'-TO, together with Percy and some of the 
Eskimos, would climb over the side of the ship 
onto the floes and there they would play and slide 
on the smooth ice; and once Captain Sam lashed 
two Norwegian skates called "Ski" together, 
and she coasted down the slopes of the ice hum- 
mocks. This was great sport and helped pass 
the time. 

There were other times that were not so pleasant 
when the heavy fields of ice would crush against 

45 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



the ship so fiercely that pieces would break off 
and pile up against her sides till some of them 
fell upon the deck, and the ship would groan and 
tremble with the pressure like a person in pain. 

At times the ship 
would force her 
way between 
mountains of ice 
so hio-h that the 
boats hanging at 
the davits had to 
be hauled in to 
keep them from 
being smashed, 
and all the seamen 
climbed out and 
chopped away the overhanging pinnacles as fast 
as possible so that the rigging would not be cut 
or torn away. 

At last, after eight weary days in the ice, the 
little harbour was reached. Here a family of 
Eskimos had been watching the ship during the 
last three days, fearing all the time that she would 

46 




" Eskimo Family " 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

be crushed and sink. Now there was great re- 
joicing, for the Eskimos on the ship had not seen 
this family since early Spring, and all were eager 
to gossip. 

This family consisted of a man, Accom-mo- 
ding-wah, his wife, Ah-we-a, a son of seven years, 
Ne-ah-kwa, and a daughter of twelve, Ach-ah- 
ting-wah. The boy, though some months older 
than AH-NI-GHI-TO, was still a perfect baby; 
his mother nursing him like an infant; but the 
girl was a playmate for AH-NI-GHT-TO and 
they soon became friends. 




47 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




VI 

The "Windward" was 
run alongside of the rocks 
and made fast, and every 
one except a watchman in- 
tended to 2et a p-ood nig^ht's 



rest 5 the first in more than 



a week, for the next morn- 
ing coal and provisions must 
be landed and this meant 
hard work for the men. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO and 
her mother too were glad 
to really undress and go to bed. This they had 
not been able to do while pounding through the 
ice, for the big floes might crush the ship at any 
moment, and every one had to be ready to jump 
into the boats and leave her. 

Now they had a fine bath and told Percy she 
need not call them for breakfast, as they wanted 
to sleep. 

48 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



At five o'clock in the morning Captain Sam 
knocked on the cabin door and called to AH- 
NI-GHI'-TO'S mother to get up and dress her- 
self and AH-NI-GHI'-TO as quickly as possible. 
A brisk wind which sprang up towards morning 
had blown the ship in against the rocks, and here 
when the tide went out 
she lay with one side on 
the rocks, with only a few 
feet of water under her, 
and with the other side, 
where there were no rocks, 
far down in the water. 
As no one knew how 
much lower the tide would 
fall. Captain Sam thought 
it best to get every one and " ^'^ ""'"' "" ""^^ °" "'' ^"'^^ " 
everything of value ashore as quickly as possible, 
for fear the vessel would capsize and sink. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S mother awoke her. By 
this time the cabin floor was almost at right angles 
to what it should have been, — the slant so steep 
that it was impossible to walk on it. 
4 49 




CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO, still in her berth, was quickly 
dressed in her warmest clothes, and after putting 
her own clothing on, AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S mother 
gathered the important papers and as much warm 
clothing as possible into a bag^ AH-NI-GHI'-TO 
begging all the time not to leave her dolly and 




" This was the J 0th day of August " 

her kitty. When this was done Percy took the 
bag, and Captain Sam and the steward helped 
them on deck. This was not very easy, as some 
of you may find out if you try to crawl up a 
board with one end on a barrel and the other 

50 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

on the ground. Again and again one or the 
other slipped back, but at last the deck was 
reached, and now all that could be done was to 
sit down and slide over the side into a boat held 
there by the sailors, for the water was on a level 
with this side of the deck, while the opposite side 
looked as if it were right overhead. 

Although this was the 30th day of August, the 
snow was falling so fast that the shore, a few 
yards away, could hardly be seen. Thither the 
boat was rowed, and there AH-NI-GHI'-TO with 
her mother and Percy landed. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO did not realize that the 
ship was in great danger, and so her one thought 
was to have a good time. Together with the 
Eskimo girl Achatingwah and Percy the maid, 
she snowballed and made snow forts, which were 
shot at with cannon-balls made of snow; when 
tired of this she went off to explore a little valley 
where Achatingwah told her there was a lake. 

They were gone about an hour, and when 
they returned AH-NI-GHI'-TO was much ex- 
cited and said she had seen footprints of an 

51 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

animal, which Achatingwah told her were fox- 
tracks. She followed them for a short distance, 
when they were crossed by hare-tracks. These 
she followed up the side of the cliff, and all at 
once around the corner of a big boulder peeped 
the hare himself He was sitting on his hind 
legs, his nose twitching as he sniffed her, — a fine, 
large fellow, snowy white all over except the tips 
of his ears, which were black. AH-NI-GHI'-TO 
thought he was tame like the little white bunnies 
at home, but as soon as she came near him away 
he scampered much faster than the children could 
follow. 

At ten o'clock the good ship was once more 
afloat and out of danger but not quite upright 
yet. As AH-NI-GHI-TO was very hungry by 
this time, all went on board. The steward had 
lighted a fire in the cabm stove and swept the 
water out of the cabin, but everything was still 
wet. Breakfast was prepared at once and soon 
every one was feeling better, but very tired. 
Getting up at five o'clock in the morning and 
being put out in a blinding snowstorm for five 

5^ 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




A large Field of Ice had been pushed across the Entrance to the Harbour " 



hours without anything to eat or drink, and with- 
out even a place where one can sit down unless 
it is on the snow-covered ground, is not at all 
pleasant. 

The poor men who had been working waist- 
deep in the icy water were worn out and could 
do no more work that day. 

Two days later all needed supplies had been 
landed and the "Windward" was ready to start 
north again. Captain Sam, who had been care- 
fully watching the ice drift past the harbour day 

53 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

and niaht, no\^■ told AH-XI-GHI'-TO'S mother 
that a lame field ot ice had been pushed across 
the entrance to the harbor and shut the door, 
so to speak, on the ship, and nothing could be 
done. 

It this field of ice should break up then the 
ship would be free to o;o on her wav; but unless 
the wind broke it up or blew it awav from the 
entrance, AH-XI-GHI -TO and her mother with 
all on board would be prisoners for the winter. 

This was a dreadful thino; to happen, for no 
one had taken clothino; enough to last so long a 
time. Thanks to AH-XI-GHI'-TO'S father, 
there ^^'as food enough for e\'erv one, such as it 
was. AH-XI-GHI -TO had learned to eat 
many thmo-s that she thouo-ht she could ne^■er 
eat, and also to do without thino-s that she had 
thouo-ht were necessary. 

One mornino- AH-XI-GHI-TO awoke and 
found it was September 12th. Then there was 
great rejoicing all oyer the ship, for this was AH- 
XI-GHI'-TO'S seyenth birthday, and the fourth 
one spent in the Snowland. 

54 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

She jumped out of bed to see what kind friends 
had given the "Birthday Man" to bring her, 
and was kept busy as a bee all day long. In 
her diary she wrote the story of the day. 




55 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



VII 




'■''September 12, 1900, and 
my birthday. I never expected 
to spend it in this country 
when I left home. Grossy 
promised me a party, but 
mother gave it to me here 
instead, and I have had a 
beautiful day. When I came 
into the cabin I found such 
a nice chocolate cake, with seven candles burning around 
it, and a doll, oh a beauty, all dressed in dotted swiss 
over pink silk with a pink sash and white stockings and 
white kid shoes. She is one of my prettiest children, and 
I have named her Lois, after a little girl I met in Sydney, 
and who was very kind to me. I also found a pair of 
doll's real seal-skin slippers, a purse, a box of chocolates, 
and a two-and-a-half gold-piece. The sailors asked 
Captain Sam to allow them to hoist the flag in my 
honour and he did so. The men gave me three cheers 
when they hoisted it. Mother had the steward make 
a pitcher of hot grog and cut up a big cake, and then 
he and I took it around to all the men and gave them 
their share. At tea time I invited Captain Sam and the 
Chief Engineer to take tea with me. The supper-table 
looked very pretty, with the candles burning about my 

56 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




" ACHATINGWAH and AHWEJHGOOD'LOO " 



cake, and we had a jolly time playing games afterward, 
but oh dear, I could not help thinking every little while 
if only father were here how much nicer everything would 
be. I had nothing to give the Eskimos except some 
coffee and biscuit, which they like, and some candy which 
they don't care much about, but they seemed pleased, 
especially with my doll. They thought it was alive be- 
cause it had real hair and could open and shut its eyes." 

57 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

Achatingwah was AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S daily 
companion, and the two little girls had a merry 
time together. This little Eskimo girl's father 
was dead. A walrus had pulled him into the 
water and drowned him. But her mother, Aweah, 
had another husband, who took care of Achating- 
wah. She had two real brothers and a step- 
brother. 

One of her own brothers was Ahng-ood-loo, 
who, besides being the "Captain" of all the Es- 
kimos who worked for AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S father, 
was the husband of "Billy Bah," the Eskimo 
girl who was AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S first nurse. 
She came to AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S home in Wash- 
ington and spent a year with her and then returned 
to the Snowland. 

Ahngoodloo was one of the only two left- 
handed men in the tribe, and he was the best 
hunter of all. He was very fond of AH-NI- 
GHI'-TO'S father and always stayed with him. 

Achatingwah also had another brother, Wee- 
sha-kup-sie, who spent a year in New York City 
and returned to his country when AH-NI-GHI'- 

58 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




^'BILLT BAH'' 



Mrs. Ahn'goodloo 

TO'S father went there the last time. So Acha- 
tingwah knew more about the ways of the 
"Kab'loonahs" (white people) than most of her 
tribe. 

Her hair was always smooth and her face 
and hands clean when she came to play with 
AH-NI-GHI'-TO. 

59 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

She wore yellow kamiks (boots) made of the 
tanned seal-skin, and these she rubbed with snow 
to clean them before coming on the ship. Her 
trousers, made of the skms of the blue fox and 
the white fox, she also rubbed with snow and 
beat with an norv knife made tor this purpose 
out of a walrus tusk, until thev looked like new. 
Her kapetah (coat with hood), made of the fox- 
skins, too, she took off in the cabin, and her 
bird-skm shirt looked white and clean. 

The days g-rew shorter and shorter, and soon 
the day came when the sun did not shine in the 
little harbour at all, and, looking to the south, 
the b'lQr, round, vellou" ball could not be seen on 
the horizon. This meant that he was on his 
way south and ^^ould keep traxellino- away from 
the Snowland until the 21st of December. 
Then he would start back ao-am, but not until 
the middle of February would he shine upon 
AH-XI-GHI-TO and the ship again. 

It was now settled that the " \^'indward " 
must stay in her icy bed durino- the coming 
winter and spring and part of the summer, and 

60 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

every one was busy making things as com- 
fortable as possible j for it grows very cold 
after the sun leaves, and the north wind blows 
through every crack and cranny. 

During these long months it was dark all of 
the time, except for the moonlight and starlight, 
which made deep black shadows on the snow- 
drifts and ice hummocks. These caused AH- 
NI-GHI-TO to have many a tumble, because 
the ice seemed level where it was full of hollows 
and holes. 

But Achatingwah and the two Eskimo boys 
came every day for AH-NI-GHI-TO to go 
sliding and coasting with them, in spite of the 
cold and darkness. 

Many curious things she learned these days, 
as this extract from her diary will show: 

"Clear day. No wind. Achatingwah and I were 
out coasting from eleven to nearly one. The stars were 
very bright. 

"Achatingwah told me all about the Eskimo stars. I 
know only one, the great Dipper. Achatingwah says the 
stars in this are a herd of reindeer in the sky. The 

6i 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

Eskimos call it TOOK-TOK'-SUE. Then there are 
three other bright stars which are the stones supporting 
the lamp of an Eskimo woman up in the sky; and a 
hunter and his dogs after a bear, and lots more. 

"I wish Father were here to tell me what we call them. 
When we came on board, Captain Sam said the ther- 
mometer on deck had been at seventy-two degrees below 
freezing all day." 

They never went far from the ship, so that 
they could run on board, into the warm galley 
(kitchen), where the steward, kind old Charley, 
was ever ready to give them a hot drink, and 
allow them to warm their fingers and toes, even 
if he did threaten to make mince meat out of 
them if they bothered him too much. 

One day he said to AH-NI-GHI'-TO : ''Why 
don't you have a party on the ice .^ Get the 
youngsters to help you fix up a house, and I 
will help you with the supper." 

This was a great idea for the children, and 
at first they intended to build a real native 
snow igloo 5 but, as the grown Eskimos were too 
busy to help them, they soon found this was 
too much for them to do alone. 

62 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



Then AH-NI-GHI'-TO went to the Captain 
and asked him to lend her one of her father's 
tents, and have the men put it up for her out 
on the ice. When this was done, the children 
shovelled the soft snow up on the sides of the 
tent as high as they could reach. This kept the 
wind from blowing under the canvas into the tent. 

It took them several days to do this and to 
furnish and decorate their reception room. Large 
boxes were brought from the ship and covered 
as tables; small ones were used as chairs. The 
walls were draped with flags, and a lantern 
was hung at each 
end. 

While AH-NI- 
GHI'-TO wrote the 
invitations to an 
"At Home," her 
playmates shovelled 
a path through 
the deep snow from 
the tent to the 
ship. 

63 









1 


j 


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u^^AAi^^^i^ll 


KvflMHI 


1 


Hjl 




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1 


^ ~' ' 


■Js-Ob j^^^^l 


^^^K ^' 


<!i.^ 


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^1^ M 


m 


1 












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■1 


B 


p 


fjflj^^^^^HI 




CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

vni 

Just before it was time for 
the guests to arrive, 
Charley took out a 
steaming pot full of 
chocolate ; three 
plates piled high 
with cake, cookies, and sandwiches. AH-NI- 
GHI-TO came after some taffy she had made 
the night before, and last of all Charley took out 
an oil-stove, which he placed in one corner of 
the tent. "For," said he, "it is all very well 
for Miss AH-NI-GHI'-TO and her young Es- 
kimo friends to be out here with the temperature 
70 degrees below freezing, for they are dressed 
in furs from head to feet, but the invited people 
would have the good things freeze in their mouths 
with no fire at all." 

Billy, one of the ship's men, acted as butler, 
and the party was a great success. 

The guests stayed as long as the eatables 
lasted, and then the Eskimos licked the cups 

64 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




" A Snow IVall all around the Ship.' 



and the crumbs, and amid shouts of laughter the 
dishes were brought aboard. But when Charley 
asked who would help wash up, every one was 
much too tired and sleepy. 

The "Windward" would not have been 
taken for a ship now except for her masts and 
spars. For weeks the men had been cutting 
blocks of snow from the hard drifts and building 
a snow wall all around the ship, close to her 
hull and a few feet higher than her rail. At 
night water was thrown on this wall until it 

65 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

became solid ice, through which no wind could 
come. 

From the top of this wall, across the ship to 
the other side, canvas was stretched as a roof, 
and this gave a covered place on deck, where 
AH-NI-GHI-TO and her friends played when 
the wind howled and whirled the snow so fast 
that it was not possible to stand up against it. 

The natives, too, as soon as they knew that 
they must spend the winter here, said they 
wanted to go ashore and build their own houses, 
for then they could keep much warmer with less 
fuel than on the ship. They were not used to 
so much room and did not feel at home in it. 

Each family built their own igloo ; the women 
working with the men. Achatingwah's mother 
helped carry the heavy bowlders from far off for 
their igloo, while Achatingwah scraped them free 
of snow and helped to loosen those that were 
frozen down, by pounding them with smaller 
stones. 

After enough had been collected a place was 
scraped free from snow and made level ^ and for 

66 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




Building an Iglooi 



this they were glad to borrow the ship's tools, 
for it would take much longer to clear the spot 
with only a rude knife made from walrus-tusk 
than it did with a large 
shovel. 

At one end of the cir- 
cular space Achatingwah's 
father built a platform about 
a foot high. 

The walls he put up, 
just as a stone mason would 
put them up, only he used turf which Achating- 
wah brought, instead of mortar, to stop the 
cracks. After the walls were three or four feet 
high the whole was roofed over. Usually this 
is done with large flat stones, but as Acha- 
tingwah's father was in a hurry to get his 
family moved into the house he threw a 
walrus-hide over the top and held it down 
with heavy rocks to keep the wind from blowing 
it off. 

The igloo was then thickly covered with snow, 
and the inside of it lined with seal-skins. 

67 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

The doorway, or entrance, was scarcely two 
feet high, and opened into a long, low passage- 
way which ended in a vestibule as high as the 
igloo itself. This passage-way and vestibule 
Achatingwah's father built of snow-blocks. 

The natives leave their fox-skin kapetahs (coats) 
in this vestibule if they are covered with snow, 
for if they took them into the warm igloo the 
snow would melt, and it would take a long while 
to dry the heavy fur garments. 

After the skins had been put on the platform 
Achatingwah brought in two Eskimo lamps with 
which to heat and light the igloo. 

These were cut out oi soapstone by her father 
with his knife, and were shaped like our dust- 
pans. She filled them with small pieces of blub- 
ber from the seal, and then placed dried moss 
across the straight side. This she lighted, and 
the heat from it melted the blubber and soaked 
it up, burning it like a wick. These lamps must 
be tended all the time, or the smoke from them 
would soon cover everything with a greasy soot. 

Near the top of the igloo above the lamps, 

68 




06-doO (Girl's knifi) 



Kol'-lup-SOO (Cot.iwg Pot) 



Kom-i-tik (sledge) 

Al-luk'-SOOt (S/>o«>i) 
King-mek (The Dag) Ka/l-Hl-O-IVah (The Narwhal) Ak'-'wik-SO-ah (The tValrui) 

Too-loo-ah (The Raven) Ter-l-a-nt-ak (The Foi) Nan-nook' -SO-ah (The Bear) King-mek (The Dag) 

In-nuk' -SU-e (Men and Wamen) 
Kay'-ak (Canae) E'-ka-lu-ah (The Salmon) 

^'■ESKIMO TOTS CARVED FROM THE TEETH OF THE WALRUS" 

69 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

Achatino-wah's mother fastened a sort of lattice- 
work rack, made bv lashing- sticks together with 
sinew. On this the members of the family put 
their wet stockmgs, mittens, and shirts to dry. 

Close down over each lamp she hung an 
oblong-shaped pot, also made of soapstone, in 
which the snow is melted for drinking-water. 
The Eskimos never use water tor any other 
purpose. They had never heard of a bath until 
AH-XI-GHI'-TO'S father and mother came 
amono; them, and the most they ever did was 
to wipe their faces with a greasy bird-skin. 

x-\chatingwah now helped her mother bring 
their stock ot bear, deer, and seal skins into the 
igloo and spread them on the platform, and the 
family ^^■as settled for the winter. 

Over the stone lamps Achatingwah's mother 
cooked their food, and on the platform the 
entire family slept. 

Days when it was too cold and stormy to go 
to the ship this platform was the playground 
of AchatinCTwah and her little brother, where 
they amused themselves with little figures of 

70 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

men and women, toy sledges and dogs, and 
canoes ; bears, seals, foxes, walrus, and the other 
strange animals of the Snowland, carved by their 
father from the teeth of the walrus ; or played 
" cat's cradle," making To6-loo-ah the raven, 
Ter-i-a-niah the fox, Oo-kud'-ah the hare, and 
Ka-lil'-o-wah the great narwhal, with sinew strings. 
Sometimes they played "cup and ball" with 
a slender ivory pin and the bone of a seal with 
two holes drilled in it. 

Then at night they snuggled warmly under 
the thick, heavy furs, hugging each other tightly 
as they heard their father and mother talking of 
" Tor-nar-suk " the "evil one," or how "Nan- 
nook'-soah," the great white bear, had carried off 
and eaten one of their relatives. 

Very glad they were that the Oo-miak'-soah 
(ship) was so near, to frighten Nan-nook'-soah 
away; otherwise at every growl of the wind about 
their hut they would have thought he was pushing 
his great head with the little eyes, red tongue, 
and long teeth, into the entrance after them. 



71 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 





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A.^-r-"'^ 


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IX 

After the stone igloos 
had all been built, the 
men built snow huts in 
which their dogs could 
find shelter from the fierce 
north winds, for, except 
when the wind blew, the 
Eskimo dog would rather 
curl up on the snow than 
be housed. 

The sledges and harnesses were put on top 
of these huts, where the dogs could not reach 
them. When they get loose the Eskimo dogs 
chew up everything they can get hold of, no 
matter how well fed they may be. 

The Eskimos on shore made quite a little 
settlement, and their visits to the ship made 
things lively on board. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO now spoke the Eskimo 
language perfectly, and every native was her 
friend. She dressed exactly as they did, except 

1^ 




" She dressed exactly as the Eskimos did " 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




" The Eskimo dog chews up everything " 

that she wore a woollen union suit instead of 
the bird-skin shirt. Often her mother looked 
for her several minutes before noticing that she 
was right alongside the ship with her Eskimo 
companions. But when her back was turned it 
was not an easy matter to know the little white 
girl among the fur-clad children. 

In February her mother sent letters for the 
dear ones at home, by the Eskimos, to a place 

74 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

where the whahng ships would stop on their 
way to catch the big black whales. Then, if the 
old " Windward " should be held by the ice 
until it was too late to return home the coming 
summer, the grandmothers and uncles and aunt 
would know that all were well, and did not 
return because the ship could not get out of 
the ice. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO sent this letter home : 

February 21, 1901. 

My dear Grossy and Tante and Uncle, — I am afraid 
you will be worried not to hear from me for so long a 
time, so I take this first chance to write this letter to you. 
I will come to see you soon, I hope. I want to see you 
all very much. I play on the ice every day and have 
a fine time with Billy and the Eskimo children. We 
have been in the ice for ever so many days. We have 
had a good time most always, but T want to see you all. 

I will tell you how I spent my Christmas. A 
week before, we began to get ready for the holidays. 
Mother baked a whole stack of raisin loaves and cut 
fifteen stockings out of some canopy lace, and I worked 
them round with red worsted. These we filled with 
dates, peanuts, chocolates, home-made tafiy, mixed candy, 
a silver dollar, popcorn, prunes, and oranges. 

75 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

At eight o'clock on Christmas eve I went down into 
the forecastle with Charley and gave each man half a loaf 
of raisin cake, and a big pot ot chocolate for all. They 
cheered and clapped and I leit them to enjov their feast. 

I played parchesi with mother and the Captain until 
ten o'clock, then I hung up my stocking and went to bed. 

In the morning it was full. I jumped out oi bed and 
found in it several pieces ot money, two pieces ot pink 
ribbon, a book, a paper doll and her dresses, and a box 
ot chocolates. I was delighted, and could only wish 
father and Grossy and tante and uncle were here to see 
how happy I am. 

While on deck a little later, playing with the Eskimo 
children and Billy, Maksangwah handed me a lovely card 
and a box of beads from Mr. Warmbath. 

About two p. M. mother called to me that it was time 
to invite all hands down into the cabin to get their 
Christmas stockings. 

When we all came down, there, in the middle of the 
table blazed a beautiful Christmas tree, which Mr. Warm- 
bath had made for me as a surprise. It looked as it it 
had just been cut in the woods, and yet he made every 
bit of it. I will tell vou how. 

First he made a skeleton tree, using a broomstick for 
the trunk and making the branches out ot heavy wire ; 
then he covered the wire with softened wax, until some 
of the branches were one halt an inch thick and others 
not so big. Some wax was also put on the broomstick, 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

and when trunk and branches were entirely covered with 
wax, they were all thickly sprinkled with coffee-grounds, 
well pressed into the wax. This made them look just 
like the branches of a pine tree without its needles. 
Next he took some hay and laid it out straight on a box 
and painted it green. When the paint was dry he cut 
it into pieces about as long as pine needles and with 
melted wax stuck them all over the branches of the tree. 
It looked so real that I thought I could smell the lovely 
pine woods at home. 

All around the tree mother had put the stockings. 
It was a fine sight. 

The tree was trimmed in chains made of pop-corn, 
and some of tin-foil, cornucopias, " silver dollars," and two 
dozen candles. 

The Eskimos were very sober at first because they 
thought we were worshipping it, but when they saw us 
laughing and I gave each a stocking, they too shouted 
and laughed and said "peuk! peuk!" many times. Mother 
gave them cake and cofFee, and I tried to tell them 
that trees like this grew in the ground where the 
white man lived; but this they did not believe, and 
said, " Oh, you can't fool us, we saw Mr. Warmbath make 
this one." 

For our Christmas dinner we had roast beef (canned^, 
stewed tomatoes (^canned), dandelion greens and corn 
(canned^, and baked beans. Then plum pudding with 
sauce. 

11 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



After dinner we had songs and games, and for a little 
while I quite forgot that I was thousands of miles away 
from home and hundreds of miles from any other white 
people. Mother and I had been invited to take tea 
with Captain Sam in the forward saloon, and we spent 
a pleasant evening. I wondered if father had a good 
Christmas and if he was coming to us soon. This is 
the first real Christmas-tree celebration the natives have 
ever seen, and I am sure thev will never forget it. 

So vou see I had a good time, onlv I wanted you all 
to be with me too. I send you much love and many, 
many kisses. 

\ our lo\ing 

Snowbaby. 



'7 





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1 

■ 




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HR 






■ 


• w - 


■ 
■EsS 




c 


— ^-,, -g- 


1* 


f - 


" ,^ 



78 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




" A tiny baby in the hood " 



X 

The holidays over, 
everything went on as 
usual. AH-NI-GHI-TO 
took walks with her 
mother and some of the 
Eskimos nearly every day. 
Once in climbing a steep 
slope of hard snow AH- 
NI-GHI'-TO began to 
slip and could not stop 
herself. It was very far to the bottom and she 
was badly frightened, but one of the Eskimo 
boys ran to her, and digging his feet into the 
hard snow far enough to catch his heels and 
keep himself steady, he held on to her until 
she too had made a place in the snow for her 
heels. Then together they carefully picked 
their way off the slippery slope to where the 
snow was soft and their feet sank into it. 

Another time they walked farther than they 
intended, and the moon went behind the clouds, 

19 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



leaving it quite dark. In taking a short cut 
they came to a slope which, in the dim light, 
looked as if it were not very steep, and they de- 
cided to sit down and slide ; but no 
sooner was AH-NI-GHI-TO seated 
than away she shot out of sight, the 
others following her so quickly that 
no one was able to give the warn- 
ing. It was a good thing that 
there was a bed of soft snow at the 
bottom, into which the youngsters 
tumbled. 

There was a little daylight every 
day after January 15th, yet the sun 
did not really shine on the " Wind- 
ward " until February 21st. 

The days kept getting longer and longer 5 
that is, the sun rose earlier and set later each 
day until on March 21st, Spring's opening, he 
shone from 6 o'clock in the morning until 6 
o'clock in the evening and there was daylight 
all night long. Strange to say, it was now very 
much colder than it had been while it was dark. 

80 




" Such little flat tioses" 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



But no one minded the cold as long as the sun 
shone. 

The Eskimos from across Smith Sound came 
oftener to visit the ship, and every time they 
brought AH-NI-GHI'-TO either fur mittens or 
stockings or kamiks^ and what pleased her most, 
numbers of children came with them. She wrote : 

"When Achatingwah and I came in from coasting to- 
day, we found eight sledges with Eskimos had come over 
from Etah, and oh, there are so many chil- 
dren I know we are going to have a good 
time. 

" Three of the women have tiny babies in J 
their hoods. One of them was brought to 
the mother just before she started for the 
ship. It is much uglier than the others. Its 
head wobbles back and forth against its 
mother's bare shoulder. She carries it all 
naked, except for a little tight fur cap and a 
short fox-skin shirt, in a hood on her back 
right next her bare skin, which helps keep it 
warm. Its eyes are never open, and it makes 
me think of a young kitten. 

" The other two must be older, for they 
can hold up their heads, and they have their 

^ . ■' ^^ I shall get Billy 

eyes open all the time when they are awake, to wash them" 

^ 8i 




CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



"When the mothers want to feed them thev take the 
Httle naked things out of the hoods, without covering 
them — right out on deck in the cold, and the babies 
don't seem to mind it at all. Then there are some little 
boys. I shall get Billy to wash them to-morrow so I can 
play with them. 

" They all have black hair and big black eyes and white 
teeth and such little flat noses, and they wear the funniest 
little short trousers made of bear-skin, with tinv fur-lined 
boots and big fox-skin coats. I could laugh every time I 
look at them.. 

" Achatingwah told me all about the sun and moon 

to-day. Ever so many years 




ago, 



longer than the oldest 



" Funny little bear-skin trousers " 



Eskimos can remember, a girl 
ran out of an igloo with a piece 
of lighted moss in her hand. 
Her brother ran after her with 
a larger piece of moss. They 
ran so long they ran right up 
into the sky, where the girl 
became the moon and her 
brother the sun. Is n't it funny ? 
We say there is a man in the 
moon 3 the Eskimos think it is 
a girl." 



82 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



XI 



March went and April 
came, with " April Fool's 
Day " and Easter, of 
which, of course, AH- 
NI-GHI'-TO'S Eskimo 
friends knew nothing. 

During » April there 
were many pleasant days, 
and AH-NI-GHI-TO 
and her mother were out 
most of the time. 
The Eskimos crossed Smith Sound to the 
open water off the Greenland shore, where the 
walrus were plentiful and where most of the tribe 
gather every spring for the hunt. Each family 
builds a snow igloo, and there they stay and 
hunt and feast until the ^breaking up of tht^ 
ice warns them that if they wish to return to 
their settlement before the next autumn they 
must move on. 

83 




CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

Only one family and an orphan boy remained 
with the ship. This boy was the son of Ma- 
gipsu, the seamstress who sewed for AH-NI- 
GHI'-TO'S mother the first time she came to 
the Snowland, and whom she found dying two 
years later. 

This poor little fellow had also lost his father 
since then and was all alone. No one in particu- 
lar took care of him, but if he needed clothing 
the family who could best spare it gave it to him, 
and his food he got wherever he happened to be. 

Kood-luk'-too, or " Good luck to you " as 
Charley called him, and AH-NI-GHI'-TO be- 
came great friends, and AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S 
mother said he could stay on the ship and she 
would take care of him as long as she remained 
in the Snowland. 

This gave AH-NI-GHI-'TO a constant com- 
panion and guide ; for he knew the feeding 
places of the hare and the fox, and the nesting 
places of the Eider duck, the Brant Goose, and 
other birds whose eggs would be a very welcome 
chano-e on the bill of fare. 

84 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



Though young, Koodluk'too, like all the 
Eskimo boys, could drive dogs, and he and 
AH-NI-GHI'-TO had frequent rides drawn by 
six or eight dogs that looked for all the world 
like wolves. She wrote: 

''April 28. 
A b e a u t i f u 1 
day, and I have 
had such fun. 
Koodluk'too 
took me out 
sledge-riding 
way round 
Elephant Head 
and back. 
The dogs were 
not used to pulling together, so that we did not always 
go where we wanted to. 

" As the dogs are guided by the whip and not with 
reins like our horses, it kept poor Koodluk'too's arm going 
all the time, and he got so excited when they would 
not obey him that he cut me over the head and round 
the neck as he swung the whip over his shoulder. But 
my fur hood is so thick that it did not hurt me at all. 
It made him feel badly because he says the men don't do 
that and he ought to know better. 

85 




" The dogs look very pretty going along " 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

" J thought he would surely be hoarse, for he kept 
shouting to the dogs all the time. 

"■ Once when we crossed a tox's track on the ice the 
dogs started off in a gallop to follow it, and the only way 
Koodluk'too could stop them was to steer the sledge up 
against a big lump of solid ice. It gave me a fearful 
bump and would have thrown me off if he had not 
warned me to hold tight. 

" The dogs look very pretty when they are going along. 
Each one has his bushv tail laid up on his back like a 
feather duster. 

" It is fine sport to skim over the smooth ice, but I 
don't believe I should like to ride all day long." 



Before leaving, one of the Eskimo men gave 
AH-NI-GHI'-TO a puppy with which she 
and Koodluk'too had great sport. She was 
reddish-brown in colour and AH-NI-GHI'-TO 

named her " Cinna- 
mon," but called her 
"Cin" for short. 
She was full of mis- 
chief and was known 
to the sailors as 
'' Sinful." 




» Sinful" 



86 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

On May 5th AH-NI-GHI'-TO coaxed her 
mother to have cake baked, so that she could 
feast her friends the next day, it being her 
father's birthday. All day she was busy with 
Charley getting her feast ready, and when night 
came she was glad to climb into her bunk and 
go to sleep. She did not dream that something 
great would happen before breakfast the next day. 

The next evening she wrote in her diary : 

" May 6. It seemed as though I had only just closed 
my eyes when I was awakened by Mother, who was sitting 
up in bed calling, ' Charley, Charley, unlock the cabin 
door quickly, Mr. Peary has come.' At first I thought 
she was dreaming, but a second later I heard some one 
rattling at the cabin door, while Charley, half asleep, was 
trying to unlock it. Then a great giant all dressed in 
bear and deer skins was coming toward the bed asking for 
his baby, and here was Father really and truly, safe and 
well, and on his birthday too ; glory, glory, now we could 
really celebrate, and Mother knew his step even when she 
was asleep. Dear old Dad, he looks the same. Of 
course we got right up and dressed, while Father took his 
bath, and at five o'clock in the morning our whole family 
sat down to breakfast together, for the first time in three 
years. The day has been a holiday for every one on board." 

87 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



XII 

After AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S father returned, 
the time fairly flew. 

Ahngoodloo and Billy Bah were among the 
Eskimos who returned with AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S 
father, and they now joined AH-NI-GHI'-TO 
and Koodluk'too in their play. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S father said he would not 
return home this summer, but would remain 
another year and once more try to reach the 
North Pole. 

During all the long winter months, while 
AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S home had been on the 
"Windward," the old ship had been as steady 
as a house on shore, for she was held firmly by 
the ice and could not move. But on June 7th, 
while AH-NI-GHI'-TO was at dinner with her 
parents, they were surprised to hear a loud 
creaking noise and at the same time feel the 
ship quiver and then roll slightly from side to 
side. 

88 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




'■'■A Narwhal " 



''We are free," said AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S 

father; "the old 'Windward' has broken out 
of her winter berth and longs to be off again." 
Everybody rushed on deck, and surely enough the 
old ship was afloat once more. 

But the ice had only melted away from her 
sides, leaving her without a support. Nowhere 
else did it seem inclined to break away, so that 
while the " Windward " was afloat she was still 
a prisoner in the ice. 

89 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

By the middle of June the sea ice was covered 
with pools of water, and it was no easy task to 
get ashore from the ship without getting the feet 
wet. Snow buntings (our snowbirds) were flit- 
ting about the rocks, and small tufts of green 
grass were to be seen here and there. 

The Eskimos harpooned some narwhal out at 
the edge of the ice, and AH-NI-GHI'-TO is 
perhaps the only little white girl who ever saw 
these strange Arctic sea animals, with their long 
white ivorv horns and huee tails. 

It was now decided to help free the ship by 
having the men saw a road through the ice to 
the open water beyond. 

Saws eight and ten feet long were used, and 
for weeks the sawino- went on. 

Sometimes a bottle filled with gunpowder was 
let down under the ice through a hole that 
had been drilled, and the long fuse that had 
been fastened to it was lighted. When the fire 
reached the powder it exploded ; but although 
it cracked the ice for a little distance, very little 
was broken off. 

90 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




- AHNG'OODLOO and a Narwhal Head ivtth its Long White Ivory Horn " 

During this time AH-NI-GHI'-TO was over 
on the island with Koodluk'too and Billy Bah 

91 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




The huge Tail of a ISarwhal" 



e^-e^v dav, 2--itherin2 eo-g-s, which were plentiful 
now. 

The ducks lav their eggs on the ledo-es of the 
rocks, in nests made ot the down which they 
pluck from their breasts. 

As hundreds of the birds had their nests on 
this island, it was not necessary to take the eggs 
from the same nest twice, and this left enough 
eo-g-s for the birds to breed. 

One dav a areat windstorm swept down from 

9- 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

the north and broke ofF all the ice which had 
been cracked by the blasting and carried it out of 
the harbour. Only a small pan of one-year-old 
ice was left between the ship and the open water. 

The fires were started under the boiler, and 
with the help of the saws and the steam, the 
ship soon pushed out the remaining ice, and on 
July 3rd, with every living creature in the settle- 
ment on board (not forgetting about seventy- 
five dogs), the " Windward " steamed out of 
the little harbour where she had been lying for 
ten months, and reached Littleton Island on the 
opposite shore that evening. 

The next day was Fourth of July, and it was 
decided to have a holiday. 

The ship was dressed in her flags, and all who 
wanted to go went shooting birds or hunting 
walrus. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO did neither of these things, 
but she had a happy day and in her diary tells 
about it: 

'■'■ July 4, 1 90 I A beautiful day. Warm, bright, 

and sunshiny. The Eskimo men and most of the sailors 

93 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

went out after breakfast to see what they could find, and 
came in at four o'clock with one hundred and twenty-five 
ducks, three barrels of eggs, and two walrus. The eggs 
will be packed away for father's use in the fall. Mother, 
father, Percy, and I have been ashore gathering flowers 
and playing tag and having a fine old time. Dinner at 
five o'clock, and then I heard mother and father planning 
to walk across the country to Etah while Captain Sam 
took the ' Windward ' around there. I coaxed them to 
let me go with them. Mother said I could not walk it 
because there would be so much climbing to do, but 
father said, ' Let her try it. I believe she can do it.' At 
half-past seven lather had two of the sailors put us ashore 
and with our kapetahs ("fox-skin coats) over our arms we 
started ofl'. Over the rocks we went — up one side, down 
the other side, of the cliffs. In some places my feet went 
into the wet moss above my ankles. The steep, hard snow- 
banks gave me lots of tumbles. In one place we had to 
climb around the high steep walls of a cliff' with the icy 
water dashing against them twelve feet below. Father said 
it was about twelve feet, but I thought it was twenty-five. 
If I had fallen I should have had the coldest bath I ever 
had. We had to wade through some of the shallow 
brooks, and they were cold enough for me. I was very 
tired, but I had made up my mind not to say a word 
about it. It took us two hours, and father said we had 
walked about six miles; but we beat the 'Windward,' 
for when we got to the Igloos at Etah, she was just com- 

94 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

ing round the point, and that pleased me, for now I 
could tease Captain Sam. As soon as the 'Windward' 
got in, mother and I went on board, and mother rubbed 
me down, gave me a cup of cocoa, and put me to bed, 
too tired to write up my diary ; but I wrote it up this 
morning so the home folks will know what I did on the 
glorious Fourth." 




95 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



XIII 

From Etah the "Windward" steamed to 
Northumberland Island, where the Eskimo wo- 
men, children (except Koodluktoo), and dogs, 
with a few of the old men, were landed with their 
tents and enough food to last them a few weeks. 

The ship with the rest on board started for 
a walrus hunt. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S father wanted to get 
packed away as much meat as possible, with 
which to feed his natives and dogs during 
the comina winter. AH-NI-GHI'-TO herself 
tells how these huge animals were hunted. 




" Dead Walrus on Ice Cake " 

96 



" For the 
last ten days 
we have been 
hunting walrus. 
The walrus is 
a large animal 
which lives in 
the water, but 
like the whale 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



it cannot breathe under water. It comes to the surface 
and fills its lungs with air by taking deep breaths, then it 
closes its nose tight and goes under, where it can stay 
many minutes without breathing. 

"They love 
to crawl upon 
the pans of ice 
when the sun 
shines, warming 
themselves and 
sleeping tor 
hours at a time. 
It is then the 
hunters go after 
them. Thewal- 
rus are hunted 
with both gun 
and harpoon. 

" Father sends 




■ Hoisting a Walrus on Board " 



out each boat with one or two white men and their rifles, 
and four Eskimos with harpoons and floats. They row 
toward the pan of ice where the walrus are asleep, coming 
up to them from the side where the wind blows from the 
walrus to the boat. If they came from the other side 
the walrus would smell them even in their sleep. When 
the boat is close enough each Eskimo throws his harpoon 
at a walrus, and all the walrus slide off the ice into the 
water. Those struck by the natives have the harpoon 

7 97 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



head fastened in their skin with a line to it. The other 
end ot the Hne is fastened to a float. Now the boat 
follows them, and everv time the walrus comes up to 
breathe one of the men with the rides tries to shoot him. 

Thev are \"erv hard 
to kill because the 
hide is so thick and 
tough and the fat is 
so thick under it. 
Sometimes if the 
walrus are full Q-roun 
thev get mad and 
make for the boat, 
which thev trv to 
upset with their 
i\'orv tusks. Even 
if thev don't upset 
the boat thev often 
put their tusks right 
through it, and frighten the Eskimos verv much- and I 
guess the white men are scared too, onlv thev won't sav 
so. After a walrus is killed the float is left fastened to 
him and we come along in the ship and hoist him on 
board. He is not a prettv animal but \"erv large, and the 
meat is the best food for the dogs. The walrus weighs 
more than a thousand pounds, but his ears are tinv holes 
in his head, so small I can just put mv hnger into one. 
But his mustache is terrible. I am glad father's is not 

98 




■ JH-XI-GHI'-TO and Billy standing on 
the dead JFalrus " 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



like it. The bristles are as big around as one of mother's 
knitting needles, but only as long as my finger, and the 
ends are very sharp. I wonder if Mrs. Walrus kisses him 
sometimes. Mother said she thought not. After father 
gets about twenty- 
five walrus on board 
we steam alongside 
of some large ice floe 
and all the animals 
are put on the ice 
and cut up. This 
saves the mess on 
deck. The meat and 
skin and blubber are 
kept separate, and 
packed away for dog 
food in the winter 
v/hen everything is 
frozen. When father 
has seventy-five walrus cut up he says, ' We will go back 
to Cape Sabine, if we can, and land the meat and start 
all over again.' I hope we won't get caught in the ice 
if we go." 

About the middle of July there were nearly 
ten thousand pounds of clear meat on board, 

and as the weather was fine it was thought best 

;.ofc. pp 




Cutting up IValrus on the Ice ' 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

to take the " Windward " back to her winter 
home and there land the meat. 

This was done without meeting any ice; but 
after reachinor the httle harbour the wind blew 
a gale for several hours. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO was on shore during this 
time and wrote about it in her diary. 

'■'■July 1 6. — Fine day. Wind blowing hard in the 
evening. After dinner mother and father and I went 
ashore, and I pinned some more pictures on the walls of 
father's room and his dining-room. When I got through 
we went to the lake, where I spent some time sailing my 
boats and digging in the water among the rocks. About 
five p. M. my feet were very wet and we started for the 
ship. W^e saw her driving away from the shore. The 
wind was blowing a gale so that we could hardly stand 
up against it. But the ship sailed off out of sight. We 
waited and ' shivered our timbers,' but she did not come 
back, so we went to father's house and a fire was made 
at once. Mother took off my wet kamiks and stockings 
and I put on a pair of father's socks. We had supper in 
regular picnic style. A box on father's trunk was our 
table, a paper on it was our cloth, beans and corn in the 
can, coffee we drank out of beer-mugs, and biscuit galore 
made our hearty supper. 

lOO 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

" We were just beginning to plan how we should spend 
the night, when 'hoot' went a whistle, and looking out 
of the window we saw the old ship in the harbour. The 
wind was not blowing so hard now, so I put on my 
kamiks and we went aboard. Here we learned that the 
'Windward' had actually been blown from her fastenings, 
and the Captain had to steam out to keep her from 
going on the rocks. 

" To-night I feel as if I had been on a picnic. 

" We leave here in a few minutes for Etah, and to- 
morrow I am going to have a day with father and mother 
among the bird cliffs near Etah." 




Jh'-lvik-SO-ab (The Walrus) 
■ I ivonder if Mrs. Walrus kisses him sometimes " 

lOI 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



XIV 



a 



K- 




yu/y 17. — Fine day with a little 
wind. Arrived at Etah this morn- 
ing. After dinner I started ashore 
for the Eskimo tents with mother 
and father. We had not gone far 
when we were overtaken by one of 
father's Eskimos with sledge and 
dogs. We all hopped on, and away we dashed, over the 
ice and through the pools of water until we came around 
the corner of the cliffs. Here we saw hundreds ot little 
birds called 'Little Auks' perched on the rocks. Father 
said it we could get ashore we might find some eggs, as 
these birds lay their eggs among the loose rocks, without 
making a nest. Each bird lays one egg only. After 
quite a little trouble we reached the rocks and began to 
look for eggs. I found the first one. After finding a 
few more we went on to the tents. At them we found 
that all the men had gone out to catch ' Little Auks,' so 
we went to the bird place. Here the rocks were actually 
covered with the birds. How they chattered ! They would 
fly so close over our heads that we could see into their 
little black eyes. One bird was marked exactly like the 
others. They have black heads, necks, backs, and tails* 
Their breasts are white. Their wings are black with a 

102 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




Tuples of the Eskiti 



few white feathers in them. They have black feet and 
legs. The men hide among the rocks. They have a 
net on the end of a long pole. They take hold of the 
end of the pole and throw the net back and forth as 
the birds fly to and from the rocks. In this way the 
old men who cannot hunt the walrus or the bear support 
themselves and their families. The women and children 
help. Every Eskimo wears a shirt made of these skins, 
and it takes from seventy-five to one hundred lor each 
shirt. . We found a few more eggs here. 

103 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



"On our way down to the shore I picked many kinds 
ot flowers. When we reached the ice we saw our team of 
dogs running away with our sledge. But an Eskimo who 
was just- starting tor the ship kindly took me on his 

sledge. The Es- 
kimos can hop off* 
and on the sledge 
while the dogs are 
running. I tried 
to do it, but once I 
fell in the ice-cold 
water and got very 
wet, and that was 
enouo-h tor me." 

Another trip 
was made to the 
old winter home 
late in July 
and more meat 
landed. ^ 

August I St the 
''Windward" 
anchored off Etah again, and while awaiting the 
coming of the ship from home AH-NI-GHI'-TO 
learned to paddle about in an Eskimo kayak. 

104 





lihng-o-do-gi-p' -su atid his wife In'-a-loo 
Eskimo couple at Etah 




CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

Sunday, August 5th, while AH-NI-GHI'-TO 
and her parents were below in the cabin they 
heard the Eskimos shouting, " Oomiaksoah ! " 
'' Oomiaksoah ! " and hurrying on deck they 
saw a ship just rounding the point. 

AH-NI-GHI-TO was much excited because 
she thought she saw her uncle on board, but as 
the new ship drew nearer she found it was a 
stranger. 

The name of the ship was the "Erik" and 
she brought many letters from home to AH-NI- 
GHl'-TO and her father and mother. 

In one letter was the sad tidings that AH-NI- 
GHI'-TO would never see one of her grand- 
mothers again. This grieved her very much, 
and she wanted to go home at once for fear 
others would be gone before she could get there. 

The " Erik " was a much larger and stronger 
ship than the " Wmdward," and AH-NI-GHI'- 
TO'S father said that the " Windward " should 
wait here while the " Erik " took him with his 
party across the now ice-filled Smith Sound and 
landed him at his winter house. 

i°5 ^ 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




" To paddle about in an Eskimo Kayak " 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO, her mother, and Percy 
went on board the " Erik" together with her 
father and his party, that they might be with 
him as long as possible. 

Charley, the steward, was going to stay and 
cook, and AH-NI-GHI'-TO told him to be 
sure and take care of her father. 

After fighting with the ice for four days the 
"Erik" was still twenty miles south of Cape 

io6 




CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

Sabine, and there seemed little chance of getting 
any nearer. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO'S father then said all his 
party and dogs and meat, with some provisions, 
should be landed here, and he would work his 
way to his house later in the season. 

Two nights before, the old "Erik" had 
a narrow escape from being crushed between 
a heavy floe and the straight, hard walls of a 
glacier face, against which the ice had driven her. 

August 29th, AH-NI-GHI'TO and her 
mother said good-bye to " dear old dad " and 
to Charley, promising to come up on the ship 
next summer, and father in turn promised that 
he would return home with them. 

The home voyage on the '^ Erik " was made 
in two weeks, landing AH-NI-GHI'-TO in 
Sydney the day after her eighth birthday, Sep- 
tember 13th, in time to catch the only train of 
the day for home. 

Two days later she was in the home of her 
grandmother, but as that dear one had been 
called to another home, AH-NI-GHI'-TO did 

107 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




Coutitry of the Iceberg and the Midnight Sin 



not cai-e to stay lona, and the next day she and 
her mother went on to New York where uncle 
was waiting for them. 

With him they left for Grossy's home in 
Washington, where they arri\ed late at night 
and found eyery one asleep. It did not take 
long- to rouse the household, and there was 
great rejoicing, for they had not seen their 
" Snowbaby " for fifteen months, and she had 
so much to tell that it seemed as if no one 
would go to bed that night. 

io8 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

Every one felt very sorry that AH-NI- 
GHI'-TO did not bring her father home with 
her, but they were glad that she left him well, 
and that he had promised to come home next 
year. 

AH-NI-GHI'-TO went to school at once 
and found to her delight that^ because she had 
played at school with mother during the past 
winter, she was now able to take her place with 
her little classmates who had been PioinQ: to 
school all the time she was in the Snowland. 

When July came, AH-NI-GHl'-TO and her 
mother once more boarded the " Windward," 
with good old Captain Sam in command, and 
sailed for the country of the iceberg and the 
midnight sun again. 

When AH-NI-GHI'-TO returned from this 
voyage the next September she was nine years 
old, and instead of sending her diary to her 
Grossy^ who was still in Europe, she tried to 
write the story of her summer in the Snowland 
in a long letter to her. 



109 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




XV 

New York City, September 20, 1902. 

My dear Grossy, — Here we 
are back ao;ain, and father is 
with us. But I will begin at 



the beginning ot mv tri 
tell vou all about it. 



P 



an 



d 



|ulv 2ist mother and I 
reached Svdnev, and the next 
dav at eight o'clock in the even- 
ing we steamed awav on the '^ Windward." A new house 
had been put on the ship, and we had a suite ot rooms in 
it which made it very nice and comfortable. 

I could run on deck anv time I liked, without being 
afraid of being thrown downstairs, because there were no 
stairs. Mother let me wear bovs' clothes, and I liked it 
ever so much. 

Captain Sam was just as kind to me as last year, and 
1 had a fine time. AVe made no stops on the wav, but 
just cut a bee line for father's house. Earlv on the 
morning of August 5th we were so near to Cape Sabine, 
where father's house is, that we could see the people 
running about on the rocks, but we could not tell 
whether they were Eskimos or whites. Oh, but I was 
excited. 



I 10 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




At one time I thought I saw father, then I thought 
I didn't, and poor mother just stood and looked through 
the glasses and said nothing except, "If I see father I will 
tell you." Well, as we got nearer we could make out 
Matt, then Charley, 
then some of the Es- 
kimos, but not until 
we were almost at the 
landing did we see 
fa the r. There he 
stood, twice as tall 
as any one else, and 
we had not seen him 
because he had on 
light kamiks, white 
bear-skin trousers, and 
gray shirt, and he looked the same colour as the rocks 
behind him. 

I thought we would never land, but at last, father 
swung himself on board, and I was in dear old dad's 
arms, hugged up tight. Of course now I was anxious to 
go ashore and see Charley and Matt and Koodluk'too and 
" Cin," my dog that I left in fCoodluk'too's care. "■ Billy 
Bah" was there, too, father said, and they were all wait- 
ing to see me. We all went ashore after father had said 
" How do " to every one on board. We found father's 
house as neat and tidy as possible, and mother teased 
Charley, saying she knew he had been "house cleaning" 

III 



"C/« " and her Pups 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



I 




" The IVoollmt Black Calf" 

ever since he saw the smoke from the " Windward; " but he 
said he kept it this way all the time. He then said, "You 
come with me, Miss, and I '11 show you how I 've been think- 
ing about you." The first place he took me was on top of 
the house, and here in a large box with wire netting across 
one end he had four of the dearest bunnies I ever saw. 

They were gray on their backs, but snow-white on 
the breast and head, and Charley said when they were 
grown they would be white all over; that when Kood- 
luk'too found them for me, they were no longer than 

I 12 





CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 



kittens, and as gray as rats, but as they grow older they 
shed the gray coat and become real white. And you 
must know they are mine, and Charley has taken care of 
them for me. All this time 
Koodluk'too, who was stand- 
ing by, was asking me every 
minute to come with him; 
he wanted to show me some- 
thing. 

After feeding the rabbits 
some willow, which they are 
very fond of, I went with 
him, and what do you think 
he showed me ? A pair of 
the loveliest pups, and my 
own old "Cin" is the mother 
of them. " Cin " knew me 
too ; she licked my hands 
and face and was as glad to 
see me as I was to see her 
and her dear babies. 

1 could have stayed with KoodM'm 

them all day, but Charley called, "Come on now; there's 
more yet to be seen." Together we went to a funny-look- 
ing place, built up of boxes and wires, and in it was the 
woolliest black calf, with long hair over its forehead and 
hanging over its eyes. When Charley said, " Come here, 
Daisy," it ran to him and pushed against him until I 
thought it was butting him, but he said, " She just wants 

113 





CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 

her bottle;" and he told Koodluk'too to get the bottle 
out ot the house. When Koodluk'too came back with 
it the calf acted just like Mrs. S's baby when he is hungry 

and his mother shows 
him the bottle. It 
was too cute tor any- 
thing. 

Charley told me 
that Daisy too was 
mine, and he hoped 
I would be good to 
her, for she had been 
his bottle baby for 
oyer t\^"o months. 
Some ot the Eskimos 
brought her back 
from a musk-ox hunt 
where her mother had 
been killed. Charley 
said I might feed her when she came aboard, and then 
she would follow me just as she did him. I am glad she 
has n't such horns as the big Musk-oxen. 

Many of the Eskimos had died since we left them last 
year, a,nd all that stayed with father were in a hurry to 
get oyer to the Greenland settlements and see their 
friends. Before I had half time enouo;h to yisit all our 
old-time play-houses with Koodluk'too and "Billy Bah," 
father had eyerythingr on board and was ready to be off. 
I hated to say good-bye to this place because I had had 
some yery good times here and would neyer see it again. 

114 



I 





Charley^ " Daisy " the Musk-calf and 
AH-NI-GHV-TO at Etah 





CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




First we stopped at Etah, where Koodluk'too and ."Billy 
Bah " and I went ashore and gathered bags full of grass for 
Daisy and arms full of willow for the bunnies, while the 
Eskimo men were out 
after birds. 

After dinner Char- 
ley said he would 
help me take Daisy 
ashore where she 
could crop the grass 
and have a run, tor 
she was not very fond 
of being penned up on 
the ship. You should 
have seen her look 
round for Charley 
and bellow when he 
hid behind the rocks. 

After leaving Etah we visited all the places where Es- 
kimos were living, and father gave them presents and said 
good-bye to them. 

The natives who had been with father, about fifty of them, 
said they wanted to live in Academy Bay at a place called 
Kang-erd-luk'-soah, so the "Windward" steamed there and 
landed them with their belongings. Most of them had no 
seal-skin tupics (tents), and these father gave tents of canvas. 

While they were putting them up Charley got one of 
father's tents and put it up too, and we used to go ashore 
with Daisy and get our lunch and stay all day, letting her 
browse and scamper about. 




" Gave the Eskimos Presents " 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




" Liiteiiing to the Phonograph " 

When the tents were all up father ga\"e the natives food 
enough to last them through the winter except meat. He 
then told the men that thev should come aboard the 
"Windward," and he would hunt walrus with them until 
thev had enough tor themselves and their dogs for the 
winter. 

While we were on this hunt, one evening we were 
going to anchor tor a sleep (because vou know there was 
no nighty the sun shone bright all the time). 

Father and Captain Sam had both come in olT the 
deck when the old ship went " bumptv bump." We had 
run aground. Such a time as we had trving to get the 

ii6 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




" The babies are not so pretty " 

<' Windward" afloat! She slid away over on one side and 
everything in the cabin tipped over, and we did not get 
away until the next evening. I was scared. I thought 
we should have to stay here all winter. 

After we had a hundred or more walrus we steamed 
back to Kang-erd-luk'-soah and put them ashore. Then 
father sent some of the natives to hunt deer, so we would 
have fresh meat on our home trip. The three days they 
were gone I just lived on shore with my calf. Of course I 
did ngt forget to feed my pups and the bunnies too. 

I gave " Cin " to Koodluk'too because mother said I 
had no place to keep her at home. The calf, and the bun- 

117 



CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC 




nies, and the pups, father 
says will be kept in the 
New York Zoological 
Garden. One dav father 
had the Eskimo women 
sing into the phonograph, 
and then made the phon- 
ograph sing their song 
back at them. You ought 
to have heard them laugh. 
" Billv Bah" and 
Ahno-'oodloo wanted to 
come home with me, but 
mother would not let 
them. Ahng'oodloo is 
very tond of father, and 



" Steat^y " 



ii8 



CHI LD REN 

when he found he could 
not go back with us he 
took " Billy Bah " up on 
the mountain so they 
would not have to say 
good-bye. All the na- 
tives felt sad to have 
father leave them, but 
after we had all the 
venison we needed we 
steamed away. Poor 
old Koodluk'too felt 
very badly, and so did L 



O F TH E ARCTIC 




^•^ Hard Over" 



^"^ Port" 

I was kept busy car- 
ing for my pets on the 
way home, and one 
morning I found one 
of my bunnies dead. He 
had been killed by one 
of the others in a fight. 
They are all white as 
snow and perfect 
beauties. 

We stopped among 
the west side Eskimos 



119 



^t> 



CHILDREN O? THE ARCTIC 



I didn't like the looks of these na- 



I am sure they are not as kind as father's 



at a whaling station 

tives at all. 

people. The babies are not nearly as pretty. Their 

dress looks different too. They have funny long tails to 

their coats, and the women wear dirty calico skirts over 

their fur trousers. 

The carpenter had to make Daisy's pen higher before 
we reached Sydney because she had grown so much. 
The puppies too have grown and are as playful as kittens. 
But vou must hurrv home and see them yourself. I have 
much more to tell you, but. can't think of it now. 

With much love Your Snowbaby. 

P, S. Oh, I forgot to tell you, Captain Sam taught me 
how to turn the wheel, and let me steer the "Wind- 
ward." I can "Steady" and "Port" and "Hard Over" 
just like the sailors. 




THE END. 



LEMyl 



